All kinds of songs pop into my head when thinking about summer in Texas. Some like it hot, Feeling hot hot hot, etc. I'm not sure I like it quite this hot, but the advantage is that we have plenty of opportunities to play in the pool. I think we are going to need a heated kiddie pool in the winter so the puppies still get to play in the water. Mr. C, who doesn't really like getting into the bath tub or that kind of thing, has no problem getting into the pool on his own now. We can even tell him to go get in the water and he gets right in. Yesterday, even Miss B got in by herself when we told her to. I think they are really starting to understand that when they get in the water they feel cooler. Of course then they are cool and go into turbo mode, zooming around the yard before getting hot and going back to the pool.

Miss B happily standing in the water= Quite the improvement

Miss M likes the water so much that she doesn't even care if the other puppies are zooming around the yard any more. She just watches them from the water. Occasionally she will get out and chase them a little, but then she goes right back to the water. The others will join her and then go back to playing, and she is totally fine with that. I think that if we had a regular in ground pool, she would never get out.

Miss M curious but unconcerned about Mr. M getting out of the pool

Miss M in the pool with Miss S

I'm glad that the puppies all like the water so much. It works well with the big plan of eventually taking them sailing. I think they would do well with the sport of dock diving, but I am a little hesitant to start them in it because I'm not sure I want them to have an idea that they can just jump off docks- especially later on when we are sailing. I think Miss B especially has the energy to really do well at it. From what I hear, pit bulls usually do pretty well at dock diving because of their energy and power. I guess we will have to give it some thought.

And now...a little bit of fun in our redneck tanning bed. I would lie and say that we enjoy frozen adult beverages in our redneck tanning bed, but really, I don't think we could go near the kiddie pool without having puppies jump in and knock us and our drinks over. So we leave the pool fun to the puppies. We shot this short video while trying to put water in the pool. After this we decided to fill the pool before bringing the dogs outside. Notice how Miss S takes off as soon as she notices that Mr. M and Miss M have discovered the water hose.

Yesterday was the 4th of July, and the puppies did not appreciate it at all! We dropped by to visit some friends for a little while, and decided that we should leave the puppies at home. We were glad we did because some of their neighbors let off firecrackers early, and it would have really freaked the puppies out. It's one thing for them to be scared of fireworks while they are safe at home. It would be really bad to have them freak out and get loose in an area that they don't know. The friends have an Irish Wolfhound puppy named Miss K. Miss K is only 3 months old but is already taller than my knee.

Once the firecracker fun started, Miss K decided she had had enough and that it would be way safer in her Mom's lap.

When we got home, the puppies were totally freaked out. It's actually illegal to set off fireworks in our neighborhood, but I think some of the neighbors may have been setting off firecrackers while we were gone. The puppies were so nervous that they wouldn't leave our sides. They wouldn't even potty at first. Every little sound made them start barking again. Miss M was so nervous, she just stood by Mom shaking. It took a little while for them to calm down. Until about midnight, people would randomly set off a firecracker. The puppies would crowd around us again, Mr. C would start barking and Miss M would start looking worried again. I felt really sorry for her. We took then out for a potty break again a little after midnight, but they just did number 1 and ran right back inside. I suspected that they needed to do number 2 but were too scared to stay outside long and just held it. Miss M slept cuddled up next to Mom all night. This morning, they all went right out and did number 2.

Today, we had fun with the kiddie pool in the backyard. We made the mistake of letting the puppies out before the pool was totally full. The little ones jumped right in. Then Miss M and Mr. M discovered that the hose was still on...

This is why we can't have nice hoses.

We let the puppies play for a few minutes and then took them inside so that we could put more water in the pool. Once the pool had more water and it was a little cooler outside, we took the puppies back outside. At first they were a little hesitant to jump in because the water was higher than they had seen before.

Then Mr. M discovered that it was even more fun with deeper water.

Miss S and Miss M were both a little nervous about getting in, but once we put them in, they kept going back for more pool time. We think they realized that getting in the pool cooled them down. They all took turns playing chase and then getting back into the pool. Miss B and Mr. C are a little less convinced. We put them both in and they enjoyed it while they were standing in the pool. Before taking them back inside, we put Mr. C back into the water to rinse off the dirt. I didn't have to fight him at all. We told him to get in the water and he gently stepped into the pool. I think we are making progress,

Summers here in Texas can be brutal. Even when it is only 90 outside, with the humidity, it usually still feels like the temperatures are in the triple digits. Sometimes when it is really hot and the puppies play, we pull out the water hose so that they can cool off a little before taking them inside. Water is water, right? So then why is it that when I pull out the water hose, the puppies go crazy, but when I run bath water, I get the reaction below?

Miss B has loved the water hose since she was little and loves playing in the mud and getting dirty. Unfortunately for her, she hates taking a bath. She will tolerate it once she's in the tub, but getting her there is another story. Miss S is just the opposite. She doesn't really like the water hose, but will get in the bathtub all by herself if you don't lift her in fast enough.Miss M thinks we need to play with the water hose every time we go outside now. Even when it's raining.

Miss M waiting for the water hose- notice the shiny wet ground

I don't really mind playing with them in the water because I get to cool off too. Normally, it is just plain steamy outside. On top of that, the mosquitoes are so bad, that we still have to wear long sleeves just to keep the mosquitoes at bay. The only tricky part about playing in the water is that once you start, the puppies don't want to stop and go inside. They really are like 2 year old children. If puppies could talk, I'm pretty sure they would be saying, "Again...Again...Again," every time we bring out the hose.

Who says you need a swimming pool to learn how to swim? The last couple of days, our puppies have been practicing their water skills in the backyard. Miss M realized that she could poop in the pouring rain. Mr. C realized he could still chase squirrels through the water. Mr. M decided he could still hunt sticks in the water.

I'm not sure why, but Miss B has always like peeing in water. She's been peeing in the water at the beach since the first time we took her there when she and Mr. C were little- before we even thought about getting more puppies. So for her, this was just a smaller, quieter beach to pee in. She is also starting to realize that when she stands close to us under the umbrella, she doesn't get wet.

Miss M and Miss S exploring after one of the rain bands

Miss M wasn't really sure about all of the water at first. She loves playing in the water hose, but this isn't quite the same thing. Everything must smell different because her nose was going 100 mph smelling the air.

Mr. C was very interested in the water and in whether or not he could drink it.

We were amazed at how glassy the water was. The ground is so saturated from the rain we've gotten over the past few weeks, that it just sat there and didn't soak in right away. We had water flowing through the yard like a river at one point. Then it just stayed. We were really glad we didn't have to go anywhere during the worst of it. Needless to say, our rubber boots have been getting a lot of use.